There have been conventionally known strollers for carrying a baby facing forward in the traveling direction. In addition, widely used in recent years are strollers including a handle that is swingable between a first position (front pushing position) at which the handle is inclined forward of a vertical axis when viewed from the lateral side, and a second position (back pushing position) at which the handle is inclined rearward of the vertical axis. In such a stroller, when the handle is arranged on the second position, an operator (parent) can push forward the stroller with the baby facing forward in the traveling direction, grasping the handle from a back side of the baby. On the other hand, when the handle is arranged on the first position, the operator can push forward the stroller with the rear legs facing forward in the traveling direction, grasping the handle from a side of the front legs on which the operator faces the baby.
In consideration of manipulability of the stroller, it is preferable that wheels disposed on the legs facing forward in the traveling direction are turnable relative to the back and forth direction, while wheels on the legs facing rearward in the traveling direction are unturnable relative to the back and forth direction. JP2002-284015A discloses a stroller in which the wheels disposed on the front legs and the rear legs can be automatically switched, in accordance with a position of the handle, into the turnable condition or the unturnable condition relative to the back and forth direction.
In the stroller disclosed in JP2002-284015A, sliding members (lock switching members) are slidably provided on the front legs. The sliding members are pushed to be slid by the handle which is being swung toward the first position (front pushing position), whereby the wheels can be switched to the turnable condition or the unturnable condition.
However, inclined angles of the front legs and a swinging range of the handle are set in relation to other structures of the stroller, in terms of comfortableness and manipulability. Thus, it is impossible in all the strollers to align a direction in which the handle pushes the lock switching member with a direction in which the lock switching member is slidable, i.e., a direction in which the front leg is extended. In this case, there is a possibility that the lock switching members cannot be smoothly slid by the swinging of the handle. In other words, an operation of the lock switching mechanism by the handle cannot be always performed in a stable and reliable manner. In the first place, depending on the overall structure of the stroller, it may be inappropriate to swing the handle up to a position on which the handle is located on the lateral sides of the front legs, with a view to facilitating grasping and operating of the handle. In this case, it becomes impossible to push the lock switching member by swinging the handle.
In the stroller of JP2002-284015A, the conditions of both the front wheels and the rear wheels are switched by the single lock switching member disposed on each of the front leg. This structure is advantageous in that the number of parts can be decreased. Meanwhile, there is a possibility that a switching operation cannot be performed in a stable and reliable manner.